Run resistant fabric



Patented May 7, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RUN RESISTANT FABRIC Application September 23, 1932, Serial No. 634,524

1 Claim.

This invention relates generally to knitted fabrics or articles, such as stockings, formed from a continuous thread or plurality of threads by the production of successive courses of interengaged knitted loops, and more particularly to a run-resistant fabric having the knitted loops so interlocked as to reduce the possibility of runs or ladders developing upon breaking of the thread.

In carrying out the invention the fabric or stocking is knit of two or more continuous threads, certain loops in the successive courses being formed from both threads and other loops of a single thread while the other thread is floated across the corresponding wale; the arrangement of the double thread and single thread loops being varied in the various courses so that both double and single loops, with floated threads, occur in any wale of the stocking or other fabric.

The invention is fully described in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 illustrates a stocking embodying the invention and Figure 2 shows on a greatly enlarged scale a portion of fabric included within the circular area indicated in Fig. 1 and embracing a number of successive courses and adjacent wales of interlockingly engaged knitted loops embodying a preferred fabric construction, and the novel features thereof are particularly defined in the appended claim.

Although new and improved mechanism for producing the particular loop formation shown in the drawing has also been devised, it may also be readily produced on any usual knitting machine by suitable control and operation of the needle and associated loop-forming and knitting mechanisms thereof, and as indicated, preferably employs two main threads of continuous length with provision for jointly feeding them to certain of the series of needles in successive courses and for omitting one thread from the other needles.

In Figure l, the numeral l0 designates a stocking the multi-ply welt portion ll of which is knitted in conventional manner and the numeral l2 designates the leg and foot portion. The portion i2 is knitted with loops inter-engaged in various courses in accordance with the invention and these run-resistant courses may be provided as bands across the fabric with intervening portions knitted with conventional loop formations or the entire fabric may be knitted throughout with the novel run resisting loop formation. I

Referring particularly to Figure 2 of the drawing, :2: represents one of the two continuous threads or yarn and y the second thread or yarn, jointly employed in the particular loop engagement disclosed, the successive courses of 5 loops being indicated by the dotted horizontal lines I, II, III, IV, V and the several wales by the dotted vertical lines a, b, c, d, e.

The preferred fabric looping illustrated in Fig. 2 may be produced in the following manner; the thread a: is fed to all the needles and the thread 3/ is fed only to alternate needles in the course I so that loops may be formed of both threads :1: and 'y in the wales a, c, e and & loops formed only of the threads :1: in the wales 5 b and d with the thread 1 being floated at 2 across the latter wales. The loops are formed by the needles and cooperating mechanisms in conventional manner and retained by the needle shanks so that loops of the following course II may be drawn therethrough as usual. In the course II the thread a: is again fed to all the needles and the thread 11 is again fed only to every other needle but so that the single loops of thread a: now occur in the wales a, c, c with floats z of thread y and loops of both threads 1: and y are produced in the wales b and d. In the following courses III and IV the thread feeding and loop formation of the courses I and II, respectively, is repeated and the course V also is a repetition of the course I.

This feeding of the thread a: to all the needles in every course and of the thread y to only every other needle in alternation in successive courses with floats z, 2' thereof across the intermediate wales results in a staggered relation of the two thread and single thread loops in successive courses so that in each wale a double or single loop in one course is followed, and preceded, by a single or double loop as the case may be. This staggered arrangement of the loop formation resulting from alternated feeding and floating of the thread y interlockingly engages the loops so as to resist running of the ends at any breaking point in the thread or threads.

As stated above the interlocking of the component threads forming the fabric illustrated may be readily effected on any usual knitting machine, but is particularly applicable to circular machines having independent needles which may be separately controlled so asto be selectively moved to receive one or both threads spacedly fed thereto.

Inasmuch as there are many variations which may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention it is intended to include all such changes and variations within the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A run-resisting stocking fabric formed of circular courses of loops knitted of two continuous threads, said courses having alternate loops of 

